Profiles of Phenolic Acids and Triterpene Glycosides in Commercial and Cultivated Black Cohosh

Abstract

The medicinal plant Actaea racemosa is a perennial, whose rhizome (black cohosh rhizome) is usually wild harvested on a multiton scale to meet market requirements. Since this North American species is increasingly endangered, cultivation is needed. Even though studies prove that cultivation is possible, it has not been widely established. This may be due to a different quality of cultivated material, which does not comply with current pharmacopoeial requirements. This study compares contents and chromatographic fingerprints of phenolic acids and triterpene glycosides in different types of black cohosh rhizomes. Commercial batches from wild harvests were compared to individual plants from the wild and from cultivation. Phenolic acidsʼ contents and profiles were generally comparable between wild harvesting and cultivation. On the contrary, the total triterpene glycoside content was significantly lower in cultivation (p ≤ 0.001). In individual plants, different profiles of triterpene glycosides occurred. Possibly, specimen or chemotype selection for cultivation would cause a shift of the triterpene glycoside profile of cultivation batches away from the common pattern found in batches from wild harvesting. Potentially, such differences have an impact on the efficacy of black cohosh herbal products, if cultivated plant material is used for manufacturing.

Key words

Actaea racemosa - Ranuculaceae - cultivation - triterpene glycosides - chemotypes

• References

• 1 Borrelli F, Ernst E. Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) for menopausal symptoms: a systematic review of its efficacy. Pharmacol Res 2008; 58: 8-14
• 2 Eden J. Managing menopausal symptoms after breast cancer. Eur J Endocrinol 2016; 174: R71-R77
• 3 Beer AM, Neff A. Differentiated evaluation of extract-specific evidence on Cimicifuga racemosa s efficacy and safety for climacteric complaints. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2013; 2013: 860602
• 4 Smith T. Herbal dietary supplement sales in US increase 6.8 percent in 2014. HerbalGram 2015; 107: 52-59
• 5 Smith T, Kawa K, Eckl V, Johnson J. Sales of herbal dietary supplements in US increased 7.5 % in 2015 consumers spent $6.92 billion on herbal supplements in 2015, marking the 12th consecutive year of growth. HerbalGram 2016; 111: 67-73
• 6 Smith T, Kawa K, Eckl V, Morton C, Stredney R. Herbal supplement sales in US increase 7.7 % in 2016. HerbalGram 2017; 115: 56-65
• 7 DIMDI. AMIS Öffentlicher Teil. Available at: https://www.dimdi.de/dynamic/de/arzneimittel/arzneimittel-recherchieren/ Accessed September 29, 2018
• 8 Dentali S, Zimmermann M. Tonnage surveys of select North American wild-harvest plants, 2006 – 2010. Silver Spring, Maryland: American Herbal Products Association; 2012: 1-24
• 9 NatureServe Explorer: an online encyclopedia of life (web application) Actaea racemosa (L.). Available at: http://explorer.natureserve.org Accessed November 12, 2017
• 10 UnitedPlantSavers. Black cohosh. Available at: https://www.unitedplantsavers.org/black-cohosh-actaea-racemosa-l Accessed February 25, 2017
• 11 United States Department of Agriculture. Plant Profile: Actaea racemosa (L.). Available at: http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ACRAR Accessed January 11, 2018
• 12 Foster S. Exploring the peripatetic maze of black cohosh adulteration: A review of the nomenclature, distribution, chemistry, market status, analytical methods, and safety. HerbalGram 2013; 98: 32-51
• 13 Fischer S, Berti M, Wilckens R, Del Pozo A. Development of vegetative propagation for Actaea racemosa Nutt. Ind Crops Prod 2006; 24: 244-252
• 14 Small CJ, Chamberlain JL, Nuckols CM. Failure of black cohosh (Actaea racemosa L.) rhizome transplants: potential causes and forest farming implications. Agroforest Syst 2014; 88: 815-822
• 15 Thomas AL, Crawford jr. RJ, Havermann LJ, Applequist WL, Schweitzer BE, Woodbury SF, Miller JS. Effect of planting depth, planting season, and fungicide treatment on establishment of black cohosh in a poorly drained soil. HortScience 2006; 41: 374-376
• 16 Kaur B, McCoy JA, Eisenstein E. Efficient, season-independent seed germination in black cohosh (Actaea racemosa L.). Am J Plant Sci 2013; 4: 77-83
• 17 Pinker I, Brosowski S, Schenk R. Somatic embryogenesis from stamens of Actaea racemosa L. Acta Hortic 2016; 1113: 13-20
• 18 Popp M, Schenk R, Abel G. Cultivation of Cimicifuga racemosa (L.) nuttal and quality of CR extract BNO 1055. Maturitas 2003; 44: S1-S7
• 19 Vickers A, Brosi SL, Howell J, Kaur B, Puthoff D, Eisenstein E. Ecological and chemotypic analysis for improved growth and management of naturally occurring black cohosh (Actaea racemosa L.) populations in western Maryland. Am J Plant Sci 2015; 6: 3272-3281
• 20 Motley TJ, Lück L, Zerega NJC. Genetic diversity and DNA fingerprinting of black cohosh (Actaea racemosa). Proc Global Summit Med Pl 2004; 1: 112-118
• 21 Black Cohosh. United States Pharmacopeia and National Formulary (USP 38 – NF 33). Rockville, MD: United States Pharmacopeia Convention; 2016: 5911-5913
• 22 Council of Europe. Cimicifugae rhizoma. European Pharmacopoeia, 8th Edition. Strasbourg: EDQM; 2013: 3702-3705
• 23 Jiang B, Ma C, Motley T, Kronenberg F, Kennelly EJ. Phytochemical fingerprinting to thwart black cohosh adulteration: a 15 Actaea species analysis. Phytochem Anal 2011; 22: 339-351
• 24 Nuntanakorn P, Jiang B, Yang H, Cervantes-Cervantes M, Kronenberg F, Kennelly EJ. Analysis of polyphenolic compounds and radical scavenging activity of four American Actaea species. Phytochem Anal 2007; 18: 219-228
• 25 He K, Zheng B, Bai N, Peng T, Roller M, Zheng Q, Pauli GF, Wang H. Cimicifuga species identification by high performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array/mass spectrometric/evaporative light scattering detection for quality control of black cohosh products. J Chromatogr A 2006; 1112: 241-254
• 26 Nuntanakorn P, Yang H, Kennelly EJ, Jiang B, Kronenberg F, Einbond LS, Weinstein IB. Polyphenolic constituents of Actaea racemosa . J Nat Prod 2006; 69: 314-318
• 27 Bittner M, Schenk R, Springer A, Melzig MF. Economical, plain, and rapid authentication of Actaea racemosa L. (syn. Cimicifuga racemosa, black cohosh) herbal raw material by resilient RP-PDA-HPLC and chemometric analysis. Phytochem Anal 2016; 27: 318-325
• 28 Bittner M, Kraehmer A, Schenk R, Springer A, Gudi G, Melzig MF. NIR spectroscopy of Actaea racemosa L. rhizome – en route to fast and low-cost quality assessment. Planta Med 2017; 83: 1085-1096
• 29 Brinkmann J. Taking a closer look at the US black cohosh rhizome trade. HerbalEGram 2010; 7: 12
• 30 Jiang B, Yang H, Nuntanakorn P, Balick MJ, Kronenberg F, Kennelly EJ. The value of plant collections in ethnopharmacology: a case study of an 85-year-old black cohosh (Actaea racemosa L.) sample. J Ethnopharmacol 2005; 96: 521-528
• 31 Jiang B, Kronenberg F, Kennelly EJ, Balick MJ. Stability of black cohosh triterpene glycosides and polyphenols: potential clinical relevance. Phytomedicine 2013; 20: 564-569
• 32 Harnly J, Chen P, Sun J, Huang H, Colson KL, Yuk J, McCoy JH, Reynaud DT, Harrington PB, Fletcher EJ. Comparison of flow injection MS, NMR, and DNA sequencing: methods for identification and authentication of black cohosh (Actaea racemosa). Planta Med 2015; 82: 250-262
• 33 Naud J, Olivier A, Bélanger A, Lapointe L. Medicinal understory herbaceous species cultivated under different light and soil conditions in maple forests in southern Québec, Canada. Agroforest Syst 2010; 79: 303-326
• 34 Thomas AL, Miller JS, Applequist WL, Rottinghaus GE. Black cohosh rhizome and phytochemical production in response to shading, spacing, and age. Acta Hortic 2011; 925: 175-184